Shivakumar keeps up temple visits, stirs political waters
Bengaluru: Prior to Thursday's cabinet meeting in Chamarajanagar, deputy chief minister
DK Shivakumar
drew considerable attention as he toured
Sri Male Mahadeshwara Hill temple
in Chamarajanagar, subtly blending spirituality with
political messaging
.
The
Karnataka Congress
president participated in the Dandukola Seva during the Hulivahana Mahadeshwara silver chariot procession, offered prayers at Male Mahadeshwara temple and met pontiff of Saluru Brihanmath, Sri Shantamallikarjuna Swami. Prior to that, he met Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji of the Suttur Mutt.
It was a continuation of a spiritual outreach that began in Jan. Last week, he was at Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, where he offered prayers to Lord Manjunatha. Earlier, he took a holy dip at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj and participated in Maha Shivaratri celebrations at Isha Foundation, sharing the stage with Union home minister Amit Shah. That appearance stirred unease within Congress circles. Cooperation minister KN Rajanna even publicly rebuked Shivakumar, suggesting the optics sent "mixed signals".
However, Shivakumar has shrugged off the criticism, consistently insisting his visits are personal. "I was born a Hindu, and I will die a Hindu. But I respect all religions," he said in Feb after his attendance at events organised by Sadhguru, who has often voiced opposition to Congress and its leadership, drew much flak.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Google Brain Co-Founder Andrew Ng, Recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around
Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List
Undo
Defending Shivakumar, his brother and former Congress MP DK Suresh said, "He went as a public figure and not to endorse any ideology."
Political analysts say Shivakumar's
temple visits
may serve multiple purposes but concurred that it must be viewed as a profession of faith.
"Shivakumar has always made it a point express his religious beliefs," said Sandeep Shastri, psephologist. "He has done so from the start of his political career. His stand on Kumbh, his engagement with Swamis and Sadgurus, and shrine visits reflect commitment and faith. One need not read any deeper meaning in it."
Prof Harish Ramaswamy, political analyst, echoed the view but acknowledged that the growing visibility is not doing Shivakumar's reputation any harm.
"He has been a pious individual from his early years in politics," Ramaswamy said. "He kept his temple visits and pujas very personal compared to others who make political capital out of it. However, in the recent past, given the chief ministership issue, it has been highlighted, and things are being connected. His presence at Kumbh Mela, shrines in Tamil Nadu or Isha Foundation has, no doubt, given him visibility and controversy which is to his advantage. So, to give him the benefit of the doubt, I would say it is his faith in gods that might get him the CM seat sooner."
BJP functionaries too have praised his religious engagements. Udupi-Chikmagalur MP Kota Shrinivas Poojary and Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna welcomed his visits, calling them a positive signal from a senior Congress member.
But his own partymen are unimpressed. One functionary pointed out the double-edged nature of his temple run, saying: "While it might reinforce BJP's narrative that he is gravitating towards a right-leaning ideology, it could simultaneously alienate sections of our minority support base."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
19 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Bengaluru stampede: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah summoned to Delhi to meet Congress high command
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was summoned to Delhi for a meeting with the Congress high command to discuss the recent stampede outside M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru that left 11 people dead. According to the Chief Minister's Office, Siddaramaiah will be in Delhi on Tuesday for the meeting. The meeting gains significance as the state government is under fire from various quarters following the tragic incident. Opposition parties have demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar resign from their posts by taking moral responsibility for the incident. However, both leaders have dismissed the demands. Speculations are rife that the high command could ask some key ministers to step down from the Cabinet by taking moral responsibility for the stampede that happened during a felicitation ceremony for the Indian Premier League-winning Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team. The Karnataka government, it can be recalled, suspended former Bengaluru city police commissioner B Dayananada and other officials a day after the incident. MLC K Govindaraju was also sacked from the post of political secretary to the chief minister, as he was blamed for pushing for the celebrations in the city. Siddaramaiah is expected to meet top party leaders along with Shivakumar, who is already in Delhi. The latter is in the national capital to visit a solid waste management plant run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Apart from the loss of face suffered by the government for organising a felicitation ceremony for the RCB team at Vidhana Soudha despite opposition by the police, the two are also expected to finalise the list of four MLC candidates, said sources. The four seats have been vacant for six months now. The meeting also comes ahead of a second special Cabinet meeting convened to discuss the Socio-economic and Educational Census, which was placed before the state Cabinet in April this year.
The Hindu
20 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Assam govt to intensify drive to identify illegal foreigners: Himanta
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday (June 9, 2025) said the State Government would enforce a 1950 law to identify and evict illegal foreigners. He claimed that the law empowers the district commissioners to declare individuals as illegal immigrants and initiate eviction proceedings. Speaking during a special day-long Assembly session, he alleged that Congress does not value 'citizenship', as out of four family members of one of its leaders, three are foreigners. It was an apparent jibe at the opposition party's State President Gaurav Gogoi, who was seated at the visitors' gallery of the Assembly in front of the treasury bench, whom the chief minister had been targeting for his alleged Pakistan links through his British wife. Mr. Sarma, replying to issues of detection and deportation of foreigners, said the state government will implement the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, for the purpose. It allows the district commissioner to declare illegal foreigners and evict them. Mr. Sarma said a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had recently ruled that the Act is in force and the government can proceed under its provisions. He said more than 300 illegal Bangladeshis have been deported in recent months. Responding to AIUDF MLA Rafikul Islam's caution that foreigner detection should be handled carefully because 'citizenship is a most valued asset for any individual,' Mr. Sarma doubled down on his criticism of the Congress. 'Rafikul Islam has said citizenship is the most valuable asset, but it may not be so for Congress as they have people in whose family out of four members, three are foreigners,' he said. Mr. Sarma had been claiming that not only has Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's wife retained her British citizenship, but their two minor children are also not Indian nationals.
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Russia, Ukraine swap first prisoners in large-scale exchange
Kyiv, Jun 09, 2025 -Russia and Ukraine on Monday swapped a first group of captured soldiers -- part of an agreement reached during peace talks that appeared to be in doubt over the weekend. The deal to exchange prisoners of war and repatriate the bodies of killed fighters was the only concrete agreement reached at the talks, which have failed to lead to a breakthrough towards ending the three-year war. Progress has stalled. Russia has issued tough conditions for halting its invasion and has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like War Thunder - Register now for free and play against over 75 Million real Players War Thunder Play Now Undo "Today an exchange began, which will continue in several stages over the coming days," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media. He posted images of soldiers draped in Ukrainian flags, cheering and hugging. Live Events "Among those we are bringing back now are the wounded, the severely wounded, and those under the age of 25," he added. Russia's defence ministry also confirmed the swap was part of "agreements reached on 2 June in Istanbul". Neither side said how many prisoners were released. After the talks in Istanbul, both said it would involve more than 1,000 captured soldiers, making it the largest exchange of the three-year war. The swap itself had appeared in jeopardy over the weekend, when Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations of delaying and thwarting the planned exchange. Zelensky accused Russia on Sunday of playing a "dirty, political game" and of not sticking to the agreed parameters -- to free all captured soldiers that are sick, wounded or under the age of 25. Russia said Kyiv was refusing to take back bodies of dead soldiers, 1,200 of which it said were waiting in refrigerated trucks near the border. Talks 'pointless' Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the biggest European conflict since World War II, forced millions to flee their homes and decimated much of eastern and southern Ukraine. Pressed by US President Donald Trump to end the conflict, the two sides have opened direct negotiations for the first time in more than three years in search of an agreement. But they appear as far apart as ever from an agreement. In Istanbul on June 2, Russia demanded Ukraine withdraw its forces from areas still under its control, recognise Moscow's annexation of five Ukrainian regions and renounce all Western military support. Kyiv is seeking a full ceasefire and a summit between Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump to try to break the impasse. While welcoming POW exchanges, Zelensky said last week said it was "pointless" to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation -- who he previously dismissed as "empty heads" -- since they could not agree to a ceasefire. Meanwhile fighting on the front lines and in the skies has intensified. Russia said on Sunday its troops had crossed into Ukraine's industrial Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in its campaign -- a potentially key advance given that Moscow has not put forward a territorial claim to that region. war And Moscow launched a record 479 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv's air force said on Monday. The Ukrainian mayor of the western city of Rivne, Oleksandr Tretyak, called it "the largest attack" on the region since the start of the war. Russia said it had targeted an airfield near the village of Dubno in the Rivne region. It called the attack "one of the retaliatory strikes" for a brazen drone attack by Ukraine on June 1 against Russian military jets stationed at air bases thousands of kilometres (miles) behind the front line. Kyiv also claimed responsibility for an attack on a Russian electronics factory overnight, saying it manufactured parts for drones. Russian officials said the site had been forced to temporarily suspend production after a Ukrainian drone attack.
